Totals Bets and Over/Under Bets

Ever wanted a chance to cheer for both teams or root against both teams? It's
your lucky day, because sportsbooks have provided a way to satiate this desire
while simultaneously providing a great way to make some money.

The sports bet
type that we are talking about is called a totals bet or an over/under bet. They
are 100% exactly the same thing, the names are fully interchangeable. Typically,
the term over/under seems to be more popular in daily conversations between
bettors, but both are regularly used in actual sportsbooks and on sports betting
websites.

For the sake of this article, we will mainly refer to them as totals
bets, but remember that they are completely interchangeable.

What is a Totals Bet?

A totals bet is a wager you can place on the total number of something in a
sporting event. For example, you could bet on the total number of points that
are going to be scored in a game by both teams. The sportsbook will put out a
prediction of what they think the total will be and you will get to choose over
that number or under that number. For example, let's take a look at this actual
posting from a sportsbook for college football games.

If we look at the first game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the South
Carolina Gamecocks, we can see some numbers over on the right-hand side. These
are the numbers that are depicting the totals bets available on this game. You
have the option of betting over 58 points or under 58 points. As you can see,
both bets pay out as a moneyline bet for the exact same amount.

So what exactly does over 58 or under 58 mean? This is the total points
scored in the game by BOTH teams. Let's say you think that both teams are going
to go crazy and score a ton of points. You would bet the over. If the
combination of both team's scores is greater than 58, you win! Let's pretend we
actually made a bet on this game and look at some outcomes.

Examples:

You bet $100 on the Over for the Texas A&M and South Carolina game.

The final score of the game is:

Texas A&M - 26

South Carolina - 35

The total for both teams scores is 61 which is greater than 58, so you win!

You are paid at the moneyline of -110, meaning you profit $91.90 for your
wager.

It does not matter if one team scores all of the points or it's split evenly.
It also does not matter which team wins the game. All that matters is the total
points of BOTH teams.

What types of Totals Bets are available?

One of the great things about this type of sports bet is that it is not just
the final scores of games you can bet on. Pretty much anything that can be added
up to a total in sports can be bet on.

For example, you can bet on how many
birdies will occur during a golf tournament. In soccer, you can make a bet on
how many yellow cards are going to be given out during the game. As you can see,
this gives you a lot of flexibility to make a wager if you have any types of
feelings about how a game will go.

For example, let's look at the yellow card
example. You may not have a good idea about who is going to win the game, but
you may have a strong feeling that there is a lot of tension between the two
teams that is going to be taken out with aggression. This would result in a lot
of yellow cards. Totals bets now allow you to capitalize on this prediction.

Are all Totals Bets paid out the same?

Surprise again, not all totals bets are the same, and the difference again is
how they are paid out. For most major sports, the totals bets are going to be
paid out at the standard moneyline rate of -110 (you win $100 for every $110 you
wager). If the sportsbook needs to get more money on a certain side, they will
move the actual point total instead of moving the moneyline.

Some sports, though, will offer varying moneylines for over/under bets.
Here's an example screenshot of a tennis match between Dzumhur and Ferrer. Let's
take a look at what we need to learn from this example.

It doesn't specifically say this, but the over/under or totals bet for tennis
is the total number of sets that will be played. The first number, 3 1/2 is the
line. If there are more than 3 1/2 games, the over wins. If there are less, the
under wins. As there are no half games, this basically means that the under will
win if the game finishes in three sets. Anything longer than that and the over
will win.

As you can see, though, the odds are not the same for both options as they
were in our previous football example. There is a significantly higher payout
for the over. This means that the oddsmakers are expecting this match to most
likely to be wrapped up in three sets or less.

Examples:

If you were to bet $100 on the over and win, you would receive a total of
$400 (your bet x the decimal odds). This would be a profit of $300 dollars.

If you were to bet $100 on the under and win, you would receive a total of
$122 (your bet x the decimal odds). This would be a profit of $22 dollars.

Bets like this are common in tennis as well as in fighting sports like boxing
and MMA (bets on how many rounds the fight goes).

You may also see bets where there are multiple different over/under lines for
you to choose from on the same game. This is done by sportsbooks to allow you to
risk more if you want to by wagering more aggressive over/under lines. Confused?
Don't worry because this example will make it clearer.

These are betting odds on a soccer game from a UK based betting site. If you
are not used to the fractional odds, they're not important for this example.
Most sites will also offer the odds in all formats so no need to stress. What is
important to notice here is that there are three separate over/under lines for
the exact same game. This allows you to bet even more precisely as to what you
think is going to happen.

Let's say that you are fairly confident that the game is only going to have
one goal. You could choose to bet the under 2.5 goals which would give you a
cushion in case an additional goal was scored. But, because this sportsbook
offers multiple lines, you could choose to bet the under 1.5 goals if you were
very confident in your prediction. As you might have expected, you would be paid
better for making this prediction.

Examples:

If you bet $100 on the under 2.5 goals, you would be paid a total of $172.73.
This would be a profit of $72.73.

If you bet $100 on the under 1.5 goals, you would be paid a total of $350.00.
This would be a profit of $250.

As you can see, the second option pays out much more as it is a much more
specific prediction. The multiple lines give you the flexibility and freedom to
bet at different levels of certainty. The more you trust in your bet, the more
money you can make if you are right. Looking for a bit more of a cushion on your
bet? You have that option as well with the multiple lines.

Notes on Different Sports

The totals numbers for any game can be whatever the oddsmakers think it is
going to be, but they tend to follow patterns. This is not really important for
betting as each game should be viewed independently. It will help you, though,
to be more prepared for what you are going to see and to recognize anything that
might seem a bit out of the ordinary. We did not address every sport here, but
just a few of the more common ones to give you a little more insight into how
the bet might look.

NFL Football

The NFL point totals average is somewhere around 41 points. This means that
most games are going to fall within a range around this number. If you have two
defensive powerhouses going at it, you can expect this number to be
significantly lower. On the flip side, if you have two offensive juggernauts
duking it out, you can expect this number to be considerably higher. As of 2017,
the highest point total on a game was 61.5! Here's an article from the Las Vegas
Review-Journal talking about the game.

College Football

College football typically has more variance when it comes to the point
totals. This is because you are going to have a lot more matchups between teams
that are less evenly matched. You could have offensive powerhouses up against
defensively terrible teams that would result in huge scores. This is less common
in the pros as even the worst defensive teams are not THAT bad.

Soccer

Most of the time you will see a pretty consistent over/under line of 2.5
goals in soccer games. What you will see changed is the moneyline payouts for
each side of the line. The more goals the oddsmakers think will be scored, the
less you will earn for betting the over. The same is true in reverse for the
under.

Hockey

Hockey is similar to soccer in that the line will always hover around the
same mark. Most hockey goal totals will be 6.5 or very close to that. They do
sometimes move the point total, but most of the time you will see the moneyline
payouts slid to adjust for the different teams projected performance.